Things to Do in Uluwatu: Temple, Beaches and Surf Guide

This guide is part of our Bali Travel Guide — start there for the overview, itineraries and costs.

The essential things to do in Uluwatu are the clifftop Uluwatu Temple and its 6pm Kecak dance (IDR 50,000 entry plus IDR 150,000 for the show), the cove beaches of Padang Padang, Suluban and Melasti, and watching or surfing the world-class left-hand reef breaks below the cliffs. Uluwatu sits on the Bukit Peninsula at Bali's southern tip, roughly 20–25 km from the airport, and is best for surfing in the April–October dry season.

Prices below are in Indonesian rupiah (IDR) with approximate US dollar figures at IDR 17,900 per USD (the rate on 2 October 2026). Beach and parking fees are collected locally in cash and change without notice.

Uluwatu at a Glance

Item	Detail
Location	Pecatu and Ungasan villages, South Kuta, Badung Regency — the western and southern cliffs of the Bukit Peninsula
From the airport	About 20–25 km; 40 minutes to 1.5 hours by car depending on traffic and destination
Uluwatu Temple	Open 7am–7pm daily; foreign adult IDR 50,000 (about US$2.80), child IDR 30,000
Kecak dance	6pm daily; adult IDR 150,000 (about US$8.40), child IDR 75,000; gates open 4pm
Beach fees	Free to about IDR 20,000 per person, plus IDR 2,000–20,000 parking
Best surf season	April–October (dry season, offshore south-east trade winds)
Skill level	Mostly intermediate to expert reef breaks; few true beginner waves
Bali tourist levy	IDR 150,000 per foreign visitor, paid once on entry to Bali

1. Visit Uluwatu Temple (Pura Luhur Uluwatu)

Pura Luhur Uluwatu stands on top of a 70-metre cliff directly above the Indian Ocean. According to Indonesia's official tourism site, it was founded by Empu Kuturan in the 11th century and later reinforced by the Javanese priest Dang Hyang Nirartha in the 16th century, and it is regarded as a guardian temple of Bali's south. The inner sanctum is reserved for worshippers; visitors walk the clifftop paths on either side.

Hours: 7am–7pm daily.
Entry (foreign visitors): adult IDR 50,000 (about US$2.80), child IDR 30,000 (about US$1.70), per the temple's official visitor site. Some third-party sites quote higher figures; the managing body's prices are used here.
Dress code: shoulders and knees covered; a sarong and sash are provided at the entrance.
Monkeys: the long-tailed macaques are protected and known for grabbing sunglasses, hats and phones. Do not feed them, and if something is taken, do not chase the monkey — report it to temple staff.

2. Watch the Kecak Dance at Sunset

The Kecak is a chanted performance of episodes from the Ramayana, staged in an open-air amphitheatre on the temple cliffs with the sun setting behind the performers. It lasts about an hour.

Time: 6pm daily, with gates opening at 4pm. Some guides report an additional 7pm show in busy periods; confirm on the day.
Tickets: adult IDR 150,000 (about US$8.40), child IDR 75,000 (about US$4.20). Temple entry is paid separately.
Tip: the 6pm show frequently sells out in peak season. Arrive well before the gates open or book ahead through an authorised seller.

Melasti Beach also has a newer arena that stages its own Kecak performance, booked separately.

3. Swim at Padang Padang Beach

Padang Padang is a small cove reached by a narrow staircase that passes through a limestone cave. Inside the reef, the water is usually calm enough for swimming, which makes it one of the few easy swimming beaches on this stretch of coast. Entry is IDR 15,000 (about US$0.85) for adults and IDR 10,000 for children, cash only, plus IDR 2,000–3,000 parking. Monkeys patrol the entrance. Mid-morning is the quietest time; it is busiest in the middle of the day.

4. Explore Suluban (Blue Point) Beach and the Cave

Suluban sits directly below the main Uluwatu surf break. A concrete staircase of roughly 100 steps zigzags down past small bars and board-rental shops, then squeezes through a rock passage into a sea cave that opens onto the reef. Entry is free; parking is about IDR 5,000 for a scooter and IDR 15,000 for a car. Visit at low tide to explore the cave and rock pools, and check a tide chart first — at high tide and in big swell the cave floods and the water here is for surfers, not swimmers.

5. Sunset Drinks at Single Fin

Single Fin is the cliffside bar above Suluban Beach, overlooking the Uluwatu lineup. Its listed hours are 8am–10pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 8am–11pm Saturday, and 8am–2am on Wednesday and Sunday, when it runs late events. Entry is free, and it is a straightforward way to watch the surf and the sunset without a beach-club minimum spend.

6. Spend a Day at Melasti Beach

On the southern coast in Ungasan, Melasti is reached by a road cut down through tall limestone cliffs, which makes it one of the few Bukit beaches with no long stair climb. The water is usually calm and turquoise, with rock pools at low tide, and there are toilets, showers and changing rooms. Recent guides list the entrance fee at IDR 10,000–20,000 per adult (sources differ; pay at the clifftop booth), with parking from IDR 2,000. The booth is staffed roughly 7am–7pm.

7. Hike Down to Nyang Nyang or Green Bowl

For quieter sand, two beaches on the southern cliffs require a steep climb back up:

Nyang Nyang: around 500–600 steps and dirt path down to a long, undeveloped beach with a half-buried, graffiti-covered shipwreck. A donation of about IDR 5,000 is suggested. Currents are strong and there is no lifeguard, so swimming is only for experienced swimmers.
Green Bowl: roughly 300 concrete steps down to a small cove named for the green, moss-covered rocks exposed at low tide. Entry is about IDR 5,000 per person, parking IDR 2,000–5,000. Facilities are minimal and the steps are slippery in the wet season.

8. Visit a Clifftop Beach Club

Uluwatu's beach clubs charge either an entry fee with food and drink credit or a minimum spend. Figures below come from Bali Untold's November 2025 survey and each club's official site; confirm before visiting.

Sundays Beach Club (Ungasan): open 7:30am–10pm daily, reached by an inclinator lift down the cliff. Non-guest entry about IDR 800,000 (about US$45) including IDR 500,000 food and drink credit, with kayaks, paddleboards and snorkelling included subject to tide, and a sunset bonfire from 6:30pm.
Ulu Cliffhouse (Uluwatu): adults-only pool club and restaurants, open 8am–10pm daily. No entry fee; a weekday minimum spend of about IDR 500,000 for four people has been reported.
El Kabron (Pecatu): Mediterranean restaurant and pool club open since 2011, known for sunset parties. Restaurant tables from about IDR 400,000 minimum spend; pool daybeds cost more.
Savaya (Pecatu): large clifftop day club with international DJs; standard entry about IDR 175,000 (about US$9.80), with daybeds sold separately.

Uluwatu Beaches Compared

Beach	Access	Entry fee	Swimming / surf	Best for
Padang Padang	Short staircase through a cave	IDR 15,000 adult, 10,000 child	Calm swimming in the cove; expert left-hand barrel on the reef	Swimming, watching big-swell surf
Suluban (Blue Point)	About 100 steps and a sea cave	Free (parking IDR 5,000–15,000)	Not a swimming beach; access to the Uluwatu break	Cave, rock pools at low tide, surfers
Bingin	About 8-minute walk down a path	Free (parking IDR 5,000–10,000)	Rocky, coral bottom, rock pools; fast left-hand reef wave	Surfers; see note below
Dreamland	Walk from the car park	Free (parking IDR 5,000–20,000)	Swim only in the calmer northern end; red flags mark no-swim zones	Sand, sunbathing, intermediate surf
Melasti	Road down the cliff, minimal steps	About IDR 10,000–20,000	Usually calm; rock pools at low tide	Easy access, families, facilities
Green Bowl	About 300 steps	About IDR 5,000	Clear water but currents; right and left reef breaks	Quiet cove, low-tide rock scenery
Nyang Nyang	500–600 steps and dirt path	Donation, about IDR 5,000	Strong currents, no lifeguard; wet-season left	Solitude, shipwreck, long walks

Bingin in 2026: on 21 July 2025 the Bali and Badung governments demolished 48 structures on the Bingin cliff, ruling them illegal on protected coastal land. As of a June 2026 visit report, rubble remained, and the regency's staged redevelopment plan (a wider cliff staircase, toilets and showers first) had no confirmed completion date. The surf still breaks, but the cafés and homestays that defined the beach are gone.

Surfing in Uluwatu

The Bukit's west-facing cliffs catch south-west Indian Ocean groundswell, and from about April to October the south-east trade winds blow offshore, grooming the waves. According to Bali Surfing Camp's break guide, June–August is peak season, and April–May and September–October bring good swell with lighter winds and smaller crowds. In the wet season (November–March), the same guide names Nyang Nyang as the area's only wet-season break.

Break	Wave	Level	Conditions
Uluwatu – Racetracks	Long, fast left	Confident intermediate on small days	Low to mid tide; rides up to 300–400 m
Uluwatu – The Peak	Left with barrel sections	Advanced	Higher tide; most consistent and most crowded
Uluwatu – Temples	Heavy, fast left	Advanced	Mid to high tide, small to medium swell
Uluwatu – Outside Corner / Bombie	Big-wave lefts	Expert	Double overhead and larger
Padang Padang	Short, hollow left barrel	Expert	Needs a big swell; mid tide
Baby Padang	Softer right	Beginner to intermediate	Mid tide; across the channel from Padang
Bingin	Short, hollow left	Intermediate and up	Dry season; shallow reef
Impossibles	Long, peeling left	Intermediate to advanced	Mid tide
Balangan / Dreamland	Right (Balangan), mixed (Dreamland)	Intermediate to advanced	Dry season

Main hazards are sharp coral at low tide, strong currents (the Uluwatu current runs towards Padang Padang), sneaker sets and crowded lineups. Uluwatu is paddled out through the Suluban cave; on big days, exiting back to the cave is harder than getting out. Beginners are better served by lessons on softer waves such as Baby Padang than by the main reef breaks.

Getting There and Around

From the airport: Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS) is about 20–25 km away, 40 minutes to 1.5 hours by road. Official airport taxi counters and Grab quote roughly IDR 500,000–900,000; a pre-booked private transfer is often the simplest option. Grab pickups at the airport use its designated lounge in the terminal.
Grab and Gojek: the apps work in Uluwatu, but local transport groups restrict app pickups at some locations, notably the Uluwatu Temple and Padang Padang car parks. Drivers often ask passengers to walk out to the main road.
Scooters: foreign riders need an International Driving Permit that covers motorcycles plus their home licence; a car-only licence is not valid. Helmets are compulsory for rider and passenger, and police run regular checks in Uluwatu, with fines for missing documents and no helmet. Many travel insurers refuse claims from unlicensed riders. Bukit roads are steep and narrow.
Driver for the day: a private car and driver avoids pickup restrictions and parking at each beach.

Where to Stay

Uluwatu is spread out, so the base matters more than the hotel. Labuan Sait and Padang Padang put guests within walking or short-ride distance of Padang, Bingin and Suluban, and suit surfers. Suluban and the area near the temple are closest to the main break and Single Fin. Ungasan and the southern cliffs are home to larger resorts and the Melasti, Green Bowl and Sundays side of the peninsula, but are further from the west-coast breaks. Bingin's beachfront accommodation was largely demolished in 2025. For hotel picks across the island, see the Best Resorts in Bali: Luxury, Family, Couples and Value.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Uluwatu Temple cost?

Foreign adults pay IDR 50,000 (about US$2.80) and children IDR 30,000. The Kecak dance is a separate ticket of IDR 150,000 for adults and IDR 75,000 for children. The temple is open 7am–7pm.

What time is the Kecak dance at Uluwatu?

The official schedule is 6pm daily, with gates opening at 4pm. The show lasts about an hour and frequently sells out in peak season, so arrive early or book ahead.

Can beginners surf in Uluwatu?

Most Uluwatu breaks are shallow reef waves for intermediate to expert surfers. Beginners should take lessons and use softer waves such as Baby Padang rather than the main Uluwatu or Padang Padang reefs.

What is the best beach in Uluwatu for swimming?

Padang Padang and Melasti usually have the calmest water. Dreamland is swimmable only in its calmer northern section, and Nyang Nyang, Suluban and Green Bowl have currents better suited to experienced swimmers and surfers.

Is Bingin Beach still worth visiting?

The surf still works, but most beachfront businesses were demolished in July 2025 and rubble remained as of mid-2026. Surfers will still find the wave; visitors wanting cafés and a sandy day may prefer Dreamland, Padang Padang or Melasti.

Do Grab and Gojek work in Uluwatu?

Yes, but pickups are restricted at some spots, including the Uluwatu Temple and Padang Padang car parks. Walking to the main road usually solves it; a hired driver avoids the issue entirely.

When is the best time to visit Uluwatu?

The dry season, April to October, brings the most reliable sunshine and offshore winds for surfing. June–August is busiest; April–May and September–October are quieter with good surf.

For the rest of the island, see the top 10 things to do in Bali and pay the IDR 150,000 tourist levy through the official Love Bali portal.